Park A-yeong (2)

"Wh-what did you just s-say? You want me to tell the entire school that I'm your slave, Master...?"

"That's right. You've got it."

Han Mir grinned and ruffled her hair. Park A-yeong's face flushed crimson as a shudder ran through her whole body. Whether it was the kind of shame that made her want to crawl into a hole and disappear, or simply fury at how far she'd been forced to fall, even she couldn't tell.

But there was only one thing she was allowed to say.

"Understood..."

"Good. But first—"

Han Mir snapped his fingers at the empty air.

Mihang materialized in the exact pose she'd been in — scratching her belly, wearing Han Mir's stolen pajamas, a TV remote still clutched in one hand.

"Eek! Wh-what the hell!?"

Park A-yeong stumbled backward in shock. Mihang frowned at her.

"Huh? What's this? And who the hell are you supposed to be? Wait a second... you look pretty tasty."

Mihang licked her lips, her tongue flicking out with open appetite.

A massive lump erupted from the crown of Mihang's skull with a meaty crack. She clutched the top of her head and rolled across the floor.

"AAAAAGH! My heeeead—!"

"You wanna die? Were you slacking off on the housework, lying around watching TV?"

"H-haha! M-Master? Th-that's not it at all."

Mihang dropped to her knees at once, stuffing the remote into her pocket.

"I-I already finished the cleaning and the laundry, and I even scrubbed the bathroom spotless this time. I took out the food waste properly, finished the recycling, and then I just... as part of a little break... watched a bit of TV..."

Han Mir confirmed she wasn't lying. He grabbed her horn and pulled, a vicious smile spreading across his face.

"And who said you could wear my clothes?"

"Th-that's because I had no choice if I wanted to go outside! You know this, Master! In the real world I'm nothing but a helpless little girl!"

"A piece of trash who went around murdering people left and right, and now you're calling yourself a little girl? Ha!"

"Hiiiek! I'm sorry!!!"

Han Mir raised his fist. Mihang flinched and burst into tears. He let out a short sigh and lowered his hand.

"Haa. I'll let it slide this once. From now on, those clothes are yours."

"Y-yes, Master."

"Wh-what the hell are you people...?"

Park A-yeong asked with a hand clapped over her mouth. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It wasn't enough that someone had been summoned from thin air in a flash of light — what she'd taken for a person had horns on her head, wings on her back, and a rat-like tail sprouting near her hips. A monster.

She'd thought Han Mir simply had the power to exorcise ghosts. This shattered every last scrap of her common sense.

Han Mir looked at her with an expression of pure annoyance.

"Introductions. This is my Slave Number One. Slave Number One, say hello. This is your junior, Slave Number Two."

"M-my junior!?"

"That's right."

Mihang looked Park A-yeong over, a lewd smile curling her lips as she stuck out her tongue.

"Hmm~ You really do look delicious. We'll have to have a little one-on-one service session later, just the two of us."

A crawling, skin-prickling sensation washed over Park A-yeong. She clutched her own shoulders and shuddered.

"Wh-what are you talking about? H-Han Mir, this is—"

"Hey! Who do you think you're talking to like that? That's no way to address Master!"

"You shut up."

Han Mir stomped on Mihang with open irritation, grinding her face into the floor.

"Understood, Master."

He sat down on her entirely, using her as a chair.

"Don't overthink it. I'm just an ordinary high school student who happens to know a few things."

"B-but there's nothing ordinary about any of this..."

"Park A-yeong."

The moment he spoke her name, she flinched as if a hand had clamped around her throat. The air itself seemed to vanish from her lungs.

"If I say I'm an ordinary high school student, then that's what I am. Got it?"

She clutched at her throat, gasping, and managed a shaky nod. A look of satisfaction crossed Han Mir's face. The crushing pressure vanished, and Park A-yeong sucked in ragged breaths. Fear bloomed raw in her eyes.

She understood now. Han Mir was not something that could be called human. And she was nothing more than a bug.

"Don't look so terrified. I called Slave Number One here to help you. Mihang, cast an invisibility spell. Don't tell me you can't even manage that."

"Heh, heheh! O-of course I can! It burns through a bit of mana, but..."

Mihang muttered an incantation under her breath.

Her body shimmered with a faint light, then vanished completely — leaving Han Mir looking as though he were sitting on an invisible chair. He spoke to Park A-yeong, his face utterly blank.

"You can see this, right?"

"Huh? Uh, y-yes."

Park A-yeong nodded. Honestly, she couldn't tell what had changed — except for the faint glow still radiating from Mihang's body.

"Whaaat!? That's impossible! My spell was perfect!"

"That's right. Slave Number One's invisibility spell worked perfectly. But Slave Number Two can see right through it. That's just the kind of girl she is."

Having confirmed what he needed, Han Mir stood up and promptly kicked Mihang ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the ass.

"Kyaah—! Wh-why would you do that!?"

"Stop yapping and pull out one of the monsters from your pocket dimension."

"Huh? Wh-why?"

"Oh? What's this now?"

Han Mir leaned in close, his face turning murderous as he whispered.

"Don't tell me you killed them while I was gone."

"N-no! I didn't! Absolutely not! H-how could I possibly kill the ones Master promised to spare!?"

Mihang grovelled on the floor, bowing as if performing a full prostration.

"Good. Then pull out a decent one."

"Yes, sir!"

Mihang reached into the air, and a portal tore open. A dark shape tumbled out of it.

"Grrr?"

Yellow eyes burned with savage instinct. Its claws and muscle could have shattered a bull's skull in a single blow. Blue-tinged fur covered its entire body, saturated with potent mana, and its thick thighs rippled as if ready to explode into motion. A monster with the face of a wolf, standing upright on two legs. A lycanthrope.

It surveyed its surroundings with a look of profound irritation — then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spotted Han Mir. Instantly its tail started wagging. It plopped down on the spot, tongue lolling, panting like a dog.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

It even barked adorably, like an affection-starved puppy, then pulled a broccoli floret from somewhere in its chest fur — how it had been storing that was anyone's guess — and stuffed it into its mouth, chewing with gusto.

The lycanthrope wanted to cry. It had thought it was free of the Hero. How had it run into him again? Look at the blood-soaked madness lurking behind that bright, sunny smile. It didn't know what was coming, but a terrible premonition settled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over it.

Park A-yeong had collapsed to the floor in terror at the lycanthrope's initial burst of savage presence — only to stare in bewilderment as it transformed into the world's most obedient puppy in front of Han Mir.

"Ohh, so you've been sticking to the vegetarian diet? If that thing in your hand had been meat, I'd have twisted your head clean off right then and there."

Han Mir beamed as he patted the lycanthrope's head. At those casual, blood-chilling words, the creature's pupils trembled violently.

"The reason I called you is simple. From now on, you stick to that girl every single day and keep her safe."

The lycanthrope followed Han Mir's pointing finger and found a girl who looked, quite frankly, good enough to take a bite out of. The instant it laid eyes on her, saliva threatened to spill from its mouth on reflex—

It felt a gaze from the side. Slowly, it turned its head. Han Mir was staring at it with eyes gone perfectly round, watching to see if a single drop of drool would escape. The lycanthrope immediately slurped down the saliva flooding its mouth, flashed a huge grin, and shot a thumbs-up.

"Mm, good, good. For a second I thought you were drooling over a person, but I guess not."

Han Mir clapped the lycanthrope on its broad back. The creature exhaled a long, shuddering sigh of relief.

For reasons it couldn't explain, looking at that girl had nearly awakened the bloodlust it had so desperately suppressed. If it had been even a fraction of a second slower, its head would already be rolling across the floor, separated from its body. It clamped down on its wild nature with sheer survival instinct, swearing to itself over and over that it would not let go of the last thread of its reason.

"Slave Number One. Cast invisibility on the lycanthrope."

"Yes, Master!"

Mihang had been worried she was about to get dragged into some annoying mess involving that girl — but once she realized the entire responsibility was landing on the lycanthrope, she beamed and cast the spell with gusto.

Park A-yeong swallowed hard. The thought that this monster — a creature that looked like it could swallow her in a single bite — was now her bodyguard made her head spin.

Han Mir clapped his hands.

"Alright then. From this moment on, this werewolf will protect Park A-yeong, and Park A-yeong is now my eternally loyal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Slave Number Two. Off you go — have a fun little school tour and carry out the order I gave you."

And so Park A-yeong, crushed under the terror that the werewolf might kill her at any moment, went to school and announced to everyone that she was Han Mir's slave.

"C-can I go back now?"

Mihang asked hesitantly, looking at Han Mir's face — shadowed where the sunlight couldn't reach.

"You can monitor and communicate with the monsters you summon, right?"

"Huh? Yes, I can. Ah, so if that guy tries anything funny, you want me to have him killed?"